ETA: Courchevel France (where JGPs are held) and Lake Placid NY USA (1932 and 1980 Olympics) are both about 1800 feet above sea level, while Colorado Springs is at 6000 feet. No comparison there at all.

Erm. I think someone might be confusing metres and feet? As someone who's gone skiing in Courchevel several times, I can tell you that Courchevel isn't 1800 *feet* above sea level but rather 1800 *metres*, which equals approx. 6000 feet, if the online calculator is to be believed
At least I assume the skating events are indeed held at the large skating rink situated in the centre of Courchevel.

Many skaters arrive at the Olympic venue well in advance of the competition. They did so for the SLC Olympics, held at high altitude in Utah. The problem with Colorado Springs last year was US Nationals ended on 1/29 and 4CC started on 2/8, which didn't give US skaters who train at sea level enough time to get acclimated to the altitude.

ETA: Courchevel France (where JGPs are held) and Lake Placid NY USA (1932 and 1980 Olympics) are both about 1800 feet above sea level, while Colorado Springs is at 6000 feet. No comparison there at all.

Ten days isn't enough to acclimatize to 6000 feet? People manage to acclimatize to Everest Base Camp (elevation: over 5000 meters) altitude in less time than that. Lukla, where the trek to the Nepalese base camp usually starts, is over 9,000 feet above sea level.

Also, what Trewyn said about Courchevel: think meters, not feet. Mile high = 1,600 meters or so.

Originally Posted by Trewyn

Erm. I think someone might be confusing metres and feet? As someone who's gone skiing in Courchevel several times, I can tell you that Courchevel isn't 1800 *feet* above sea level but rather 1800 *metres*, which equals approx. 6000 feet, if the online calculator is to be believed
At least I assume the skating events are indeed held at the large skating rink situated in the centre of Courchevel.

Ten days isn't enough to acclimatize to 6000 feet? People manage to acclimatize to Everest Base Camp (elevation: over 5000 meters) altitude in less time than that. Lukla, where the trek to the Nepalese base camp usually starts, is over 9,000 feet above sea level.

But they don't have to skate 7-triples programs or skate 40-minutes practices!

No, they just have to trek uphill for several days in increasingly thinner air. And that's just to get to base camp, disregarding what you have to do to actually reach the summit!

Like many people, reading Into Thin Air was more than enough to make it clear to me that mountaineering was not in my future...

As for the bolded part: neither do pair skaters and ice dancers

(Yes, I should have added: they don't have to dance for four minutes taking care not to make any mistake in any step or turn and at the same time listening to the music, the timing and the interpretation at high speed; they don't have to perform in four minutes three lifts over the man's head, two sbs jumps, two throw jumps, two different kind of spins, one double/triple twist lift...)

(Yes, I should have added: they don't have to dance for four minutes taking care not to make any mistake in any step or turn and at the same time listening to the music, the timing and the interpretation at high speed; they don't have to perform in four minutes three lifts over the man's head, two sbs jumps, two throw jumps, two different kind of spins, one double/triple twist lift...)

But think of the consequences if one makes a wrong step or turn on Everest or K2! They can be far more severe than a lower level or even a Skary Babs death glare